When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same

Nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

We've been through this such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain, oo yeah
But love is always coming and love is always going
And no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
Walking away

If we could take the time
To lay it on the line
I could rest my head
Just knowin' that you were mine
All mine
So if you want to love me
Then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time on your own
Do you need some time all alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don't you know you need some time all alone

I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you

Sometimes I need some time on my
Own
Sometimes I need some time all alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don't you know you need some time all alone

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain, oh yeah
I know that you can love me
When there's no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
'Cause nothin' lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one

241 Comments

Song Meaning"November Rain is a song about not wanting to be in a state of having to deal with unrequited love." - Axl Rose

This song is absolutely fabulous, and my favourite of all time. The emotional intensity of the lyrics combines beautifully with the soaring melodies to take the listener on a journey from despair into hope. I'll now offer my interpretation of the lyrics, which I feel is true to Axl's original intention.

As Axl says, the song is about unrequited love. He is still very much in love with a woman, but she is no longer in love with him. He uses a metaphor to express how difficult it is to cope with unrequited love:
"It's hard to hold a candle, in the cold November rain."
Here, holding the candle stands for him trying to hold onto his love for her, while the cold November rain is the absence of her love. It is difficult to love someone who does not return the feeling. And inevitably, his love will also die, just as the candle will be extinguished by the rain. He does not want this to happen, but eventually it will, unless she can recover her love.

So that's the central message. I'll now do it fully, lyric by lyric.

"When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained"
- her love for him is no longer present, but he sees how it can be recovered. He feels that it is merely buried beneath the surface, so that she doesn't feel it. However, it is possible to unearth it once again, as it is still very much in existence.

"But darlin' when I hold you
Don't you know I feel the same"
- he is still in love with her, although she doesn't realise it. The use of "hold you" suggests the couple is still in a relationship, although they are simply going through the motions of one rather than actively participating. In theory they are both single, they just haven't officially broken up, but the love is gone.

''Cause nothin' lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change"
- he is hopeful that this absence of love will pass, and sees the potential for her to fall back in love - 'hearts can change'.

"And it's hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain"
- this is the metaphor for unrequited love, which I explained above.

"We've been through this such a long long time
Just tryin' to kill the pain"
- the relationship is a long term one, and it is possibly a case of 'familiarity breeds contempt' in the case of the woman. The relationship has long since stagnated and both have found ways of coping with the pain this has caused, rather than trying to heal it.

"But lovers always come and lovers always go
An no one's really sure who's lettin' go today
Walking away"
- She has had several affairs in an attempt to find feelings of love outside of the stagnant relationship, but they are only temporary. Her deep, buried love for her partner is preventing her from leaving the relationship outright. These affairs have created confusion as it is difficult to separate the feelings of lust she feels for her lovers from what she feels for her partner and so neither of them know whether the next affair is the one that will end the relationship or whether the lover will be the one to walk away.

"If we could take the time to lay it on the line
I could rest my head
just knowin' that you were mine
All mine"
- if they were to actually stop and discuss the future of the relationship and make a final decision, it would put him out of his misery as he feels that she would choose to stay with him and end the affairs.

"So if you want to love me
then darlin' don't refrain
Or I'll just end up walkin'
in the cold November rain"
- If she has any love left for him he wants her to show him and let him know. Otherwise he'll remain in misery due to his love being unrequited. There is also a suggestion he might choose to leave the relationship - 'walking'. But if so, it will certainly be difficult to do so and he will suffer greatly.

"Do you need some time.. on your own
Do you need some time.. all alone
Everybody needs some time.. on their own
Don't you know you need some time.. all alone"
- a reminder that until we are happy within ourselves we cannot be happy within a relationship. He is suggesting that a personal problem is manifesting itself in her inability to maintain a relationship. He wants her to take the time to heal her inner problems, which in turn will enable her to acknowledge her love for him, thus healing the relationship.

"I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you"
- she has been hurt by those closest to her in the past and so she has closed herself off and will not allow herself to develop a strong relationship in case she gets hurt again. She has built a wall between herself and him.

"But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you"
- if she could heal herself and recover from the pain in her past, the future will be good, i.e. the relationship will be able to flourish.

"Sometimes I need some time.. on my own
Sometimes I need some time.. all alone
Everybody needs some time.. on their own
Don't you know you need some time.. all alone"
- He also needs to take a step back from the relationship, for his own well-being. We all need time to ourselves, one cannot exist solely through others. Our relationships do not define us. She has allowed herself to be defined by her relationships and so has been hurt more than others when the relationships have collapsed. She is now afraid to enter new relationships in attempt to avoid similar hurt in the future. He's telling her she has to take a step back and re-evaluate this, taking some time to herself.

"And when your fears subside
and shadows still remain"
- she must slowly take tentative steps back into the relationship, although it will be difficult at first. Gradually she will become more confident, although doubts will linger.

"I know that you can love me
when there's no one left to blame"
- once she has recovered from past hurts she will be able to rediscover her love for him. She must remove the wall she has built up as a result of pain others have caused her, i.e. 'when there's no one left to blame'. When she does this the love will blossom once more.

'So never mind the darkness
we still can find a way'
- although the absence of her love currently seems hopeless, (darkness is traditionally a symbol of hopelessness. November is a dark, wintry month and rain cloud is heavy, overcast and dull. As previously mentioned, the November rain is a metaphor for the absence of her love.) he sees a way out, back to a loving relationship.

"'Cause nothin' lasts forever
even cold November rain"
- now he inverts the previous metaphor into one of hope. Just as earlier he said that love doesn't last forever, now he reminds us that if love doesn't last forever, neither does the absence of love. This unrequited love will pass and the relationship will flourish once more. There is hope.

*Here the music changes completely from the more melodious orchestra to what sounds like a breakdown, with wailing guitars and sinister chanting. Although there is hope for the future, the current situation is still causing him immense pain.*

"Don't ya think that you need somebody
Don't ya think that you need someone
Everybody needs somebody
You're not the only one
You're not the only one"
- Although earlier he said everyone needs to be alone, now he says everybody needs somebody else. He is desperate for this relationship to work and he wants her to want him and needs her to need him. There is an almost accusatory tone as he warns 'you're not the only one' - he resents the pain that she has caused him.

My Interpretationfinally figured out what its about,its about a couple who love each other but she isnt sure she's ready to commit and is restraning her love and the other just needs to know where he stands and he understands what she's going throughand how some people need some time on there own to confirmthere feelings etc and beneath all of whats going on they know how deep there love is. The november rain represents the troubles in there relationship and its not going to last forever and some relationships break up and others last but it's worth trying. What a beautiful song im sure mayy can relate to because thats the reality of giving your heart and self to somebody you love there's always be risks but nothing will necessarily happen and could be a match made in heaven.

General CommentThis song in my opinion is the best Depressing love song there ever was. This song hits the heart like a shotgun especially when , you just broke up with someone, a loved one dies, or your having relationship problems, constant fighting ect. This is one of those songs that you wanted to put on a cd, and let them know exactly how you felt, when you send it to them in the mail.
Cold November Rain.. The worst part within a relationship the tough times, no one wants them, but we all have to go through it. Nothing lasts forever, not even cold november rain...

This song really sets your mind in a dream like state, with its innocent , cruel, ashamed, loving , and sometimes without words,... I put this song in my all time top 10 book..

General CommentThe guy is in agony because something the chick he digs is taken. The chick kinda digs him, too, but there's something getting in the way of her switching guys. He's finally half given up - the current boyfriend is like november rain -- it makes you completely miserable, but you know eventually it will go away.

Basically, something along the lines of what Vincent Vega would have been thinking on his drive home if he hadn't found Mia Wallace OD'ing, or something.

General CommentThis song could be about a friend loving a girl you love. In the music video at 5:10 the bride is leaving with her husband and she suddenly looks at something or somebody, we don´t know who or what it is. It might be the one who wanted her before and still wantes her, but it´s simlpy too late.
"I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn't time be out to charm you"

I was actually told he was in love with a woman for a very long time. They finally decided to get married. Leaving the ceremony, they were in a car crash, and she was killed. It happened in November.

"It's hard to hold a candle in the cold, November rain"

Candles are symbolic of remembrance. When a loved one close to you dies, people pull away. They think you need space. Sometimes you do, and sometimes, you don't, and your own friends can harm you.

I think the last few lines are him saying to himself that she isn't the only one for him, there must be someone else out there... That he has another chance to be happy. Or maybe that he isn't the only one who feels this way, and speaking to himself in third person.